And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie--Blogpost by Kate Forden

Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None was inspired by the environment she lived in as she wrote the novel. The writer stayed at the luxurious Burgh Island Hotel as she wrote her novel and found it to be such an interesting location that she made it the setting for her most challenging novel yet. The real island and its background are almost identical to the fictional version in the novel. Originally purchased by a music hall star for weekend parties, the island gained a reputation. The hotel was infamous for its celebrity guests and wild parties, same as in the novel. The incredible nature of the island helped convince the characters to leave their homes. As explained in the epilogue, unfortunately it also led to their downfall, “there was some experiment on – some bet about living on a ‘desert island’ for a week – and that no notice was to be taken of any appeal for help” (Christie 273). The mainland being so used to such requests from the guests of the island that they didn’t even question this proposal, and eventually ignored an SOS signal from the people trying to escape the island. The hotel being on an island creates an intense feeling of isolation, helplessness, and inevitability. Being on an island they have no outside help, with no outside help there is no escape, and with no escape there is only their inevitable death.








The mansion itself provides a unique setting for a mystery mansion. The Art Deco architecture is bright, white, and beautiful- the opposite of the common murder crime scene. The house is described as “the essence of modernity. There were no dark corners – no possible sliding panels – it was flooded with electric light – everything was new and bright and shining. There was nothing hidden in this house, nothing concealed. It had no atmosphere about it. Somehow, that was the most frightening thing of all” (Christie 79). Christie notes the commonalities of past crime novel settings and how this hotel is so different from what the characters would expect. One states, “If this had been an old house, with creaking wood, and dark shadows, and heavily paneled walls, there might have been an eerie feeling” (Christie 79). The characters are in a setting they cannot remotely connect to what they are experiencing. This enhanced the characters’ fear and paranoia, as the killer seemed to be a ghost that they couldn’t save themselves from. The characters and the situation they are in strong contrast to their environment, sending a hint that all may not be as it seems. There are constant twists, and red herrings, in the novel that it makes perfect sense for the mansion to not match what would be expected. The house is no longer a resort or refuge, but instead transformed into a clean white morgue.

World War Two had a significant impact on the tone and plot of the novel. Written as the war was impending, there are many connections to the text and to the real hotel and island. Throughout the text there is a feeling of having nowhere to escape the danger and feeling constantly claustrophobic as a result. Christie was familiar with war, and during World War 1 “work[ed] as a nurse with the voluntary Aid Detachment in a Red Cross Hospital in Torquay” (Agathachristie.com). This could relate to England being attacked on their home front, unlike in the previous war. Fears of invasion were prevalent and could be why Christie chose to show bright resort on an island, a hard to reach and isolated piece of land, being brutalized and turned into a deadly scene. She makes it clear that everyone will eventually be affected, much like in war. The Burgh Hotel was truly impacted by the war and “In World War II Burgh Island’s convenient seaside location meant the hotel was used as a recovery centre for wounded RAF personnel. During the conflict the top two floors of the hotel were damaged by a bomb and despite being repaired, it suffered a period of post-war decline” (Hotel Website). Even when the hotel was being used as a place to heal soldiers, the hotel itself was injured while serving its country. The ending could also tie into the effect of the Wars on Christie. The killer decides those who are guilty of crimes that could not be brought to court should still be brought to justice. Mr. Justice Wargrave postulates, “it explains Soldier Island. There are crimes that cannot be brought home to their perpetrators” (Christie 114). As a result, ten people with deadly pasts end up murdered because one person decided they could caste their own judgement. The reader is left to weigh each character's dubious innocence and guilt, and like in war, contemplate which side is right and which is wrong, and whether justice truly prevails.

Sources:

“Agatha Christie: The World's Best-selling Author of All Time.” Agatha Christie, www.agathachristie.com.

Eisenberg, Joel. “Revisiting the Racism That Inspired One of the World’s Bestselling Crime Novels.” Medium, 7 Nov. 2022, medium.com/writing-for-your-life/revisiting-the-horrific-racism-that-inspired-the-worlds-bestselling-crime-novel-7c7fca5647b7.

Flood, Alison. “And Then There Were Two: Novel Thought to Have Inspired Agatha Christie Gets UK Publication.” The Guardian, 16 Sept. 2021, www.theguardian.com/books/2021/sep/16/the-invisible-host-inspired-agatha-christie-gets-uk-publication.

Richardson, Phyllis. “The ‘Three-Dimensional Game-Board’ of Agatha Christie’s Country Houses.” CrimeReads, 11 May 2021, crimereads.com/agatha-christies-country-houses.

Stein, Sadie. “The History Behind Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None.’” The Paris Review, 5 Feb. 2016, www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/02/05/mystery.

Wiki, Contributors to Agatha Christie. “Burgh Island.” Agatha Christie Wiki, agathachristie.fandom.com/wiki/Burgh_Island.